03-04-2007, 08:25 PM
Khalidi is back, it is the SC and ST he is batting for this time.
Scheduled for recruitment?
The furore over âthe Muslim head-countâ in January-February 2006 overshadowed the question of many groups unrepresented in the armed forces, such as the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). They represented a little over 16 and 8 per cent respectively of the total national population in 2001, but few are found in the armed forces as officers. Between 1950 and 2005, about 50,000 men entered the defence services as cadets through the National Defence Academy (NDA), according to the Union Public Service Commission. Out of this number, only about 200 were SCs and a little over a 100 were STs. Why so? And what can be/should be done about it?
Historically, the British considered the SCs and STs outside the âmartial racesâ, and thus disqualified them for recruitment as jawans.Wartime compulsions, however, necessitated the induction of many non-martial groups including SCs and STs. Thus the Mahars of Maharashtra and Mazhbi (faithful) and Ramadasia Sikhs â both lower castes â of Punjab entered the colonial army as did the pariahs of southern India from early 19th century onwards. The manpower demand of World War II even saw the emergence of a Chamar Regiment that recruited mostly in UP, only to be disbanded in 1946.
In 2007, SCs and STs are well-represented as jawans in the Mahar Regiment, the Bihar Regiment and the Sikh Light Infantry. In addition, there are some battalions of infantry regiments which are exclusively meant for SCs and STs, or have a fixed percentage in them. But the officers in these regiments are not necessarily members of SC or ST communities. The current chief of the army staff Gen. JJ Singh is a Sikh from the Mahar Regiment, and proudly considers himself a Mahar! The reason why there are so few officers from the two communities is clear: poor educational backgrounds, leading, first, to an inability to meet the minimum qualifications to enter the exams and, then, a failure to pass the examinations when able to enter them.
A close examination of the annual reports of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Tribes from 1950 to the present reveals a depressing absence of SC and ST men in all three branches of the armed forces: army, air force and the navy, as far as combat units are concerned. The absence from air force and navy is easy to explain: both are highly skilled organisations requiring technical education for entry. Since education of any kind â much less technical â is poor among the SCs and STs, they are therefore poorly represented in the two forces.
The situation is better in noncombat units. In the civilian cadres of the three branches of the forces, the SCs are represented well above their population percentages: 20.58 per cent in the army, 15.3 per cent in the navy, and 35 per cent in the air force. But the STs have done poorly in the armyâs civilian cadres.
Within the civilian cadres of the three forces, the percentage of the two groups is highest in the D-category requiring least education and lowest in the A-category requiring advanced education. A high degree of education is not required in the infantry units, where at least 25-30 per cent of the recruitment is based on ethnicity, caste or region, exemplified by the famous Dogra, Garhwal, Gorkha, Kumaon, Rajput and Sikh regiments more than half-a-century after entry into the army was theoretically opened to all qualified Indian citizens. SC and ST politicians from Babu Jagjivan Ram (defence minister in 1970s) to Ram Vilas Paswan, Union minister for steel & fertilisers, have demanded reservation for the two groups in the three branches of the services. The commissioners/chairmen of the National Commission on Scheduled Castes and Tribes have consistently supported the demand as evidenced from their reports since the 1950s.
Most recently, Dr Suraj Bhan, the current chairman of the SC Commission articulated the demand in May 2006. The Lok Sabhaâs Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Tribes, headed by Ratilal Kalidas Varma, presented a case for reservations with facts and figures to the Defence Ministry in August 2003. Paswan in particular demanded a Dalit regiment.
There is thus a consensus among Dalit politicians and the intelligentsia for reservations in the armed forces. But the Central government, whether headed by the BJP or the current UPA, categorically rejects the argument for reservation or for new regiments based on caste, ethnicity or region. Their argument is that âany attempt to introduce reservation for any class or community cannot but impair the fighting efficiency of the Armyâ.
When asked to abolish units based on ethnicity, caste or region, the Defence Ministryâs strange argument was that âclass composition of certain army units has been retained because of compulsions of combat effectiveness, operational performance and experienceâ. It is obvious that the defence ministry wants to maintain status quo even when contradictory arguments are used in the same breath. Moreover, the then Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee was either misinformed or intentionally misled the nation when he claimed in Rajya Sabha on February 22, 2006, that âall regiments named after communities and regions were formed before Independence. None was raised after 1950.â
Mukherjee was obviously unaware that Naga and Mizo regiments were raised in the early 1960s, a decade-and-a-half after 1947. The nation as a whole must develop consensus on whether or not it wants its institutions to mirror the countryâs population diversity. The armed forcesâ composition cannot be above public scrutiny in a democracy such as India. If we desire our armed forces to reflect our population composition, then measures must be taken to achieve that goal.
Children of aristocrats, former officers, and children of upper classes are disinterested in a career in the armed forces, given the poor incentives compared with the IT sector; they are unlikely to complain if reservations are introduced. If reservations are too radical, then state-sponsored intensive coaching for SCs, STs, Muslims, women and all other under-represented groups to prepare for UPSC exams is one corrective measure. Otherwise the underrepresented groups will not be scheduled for recruitment.
(The writer is a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.)
Scheduled for recruitment?
The furore over âthe Muslim head-countâ in January-February 2006 overshadowed the question of many groups unrepresented in the armed forces, such as the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). They represented a little over 16 and 8 per cent respectively of the total national population in 2001, but few are found in the armed forces as officers. Between 1950 and 2005, about 50,000 men entered the defence services as cadets through the National Defence Academy (NDA), according to the Union Public Service Commission. Out of this number, only about 200 were SCs and a little over a 100 were STs. Why so? And what can be/should be done about it?
Historically, the British considered the SCs and STs outside the âmartial racesâ, and thus disqualified them for recruitment as jawans.Wartime compulsions, however, necessitated the induction of many non-martial groups including SCs and STs. Thus the Mahars of Maharashtra and Mazhbi (faithful) and Ramadasia Sikhs â both lower castes â of Punjab entered the colonial army as did the pariahs of southern India from early 19th century onwards. The manpower demand of World War II even saw the emergence of a Chamar Regiment that recruited mostly in UP, only to be disbanded in 1946.
In 2007, SCs and STs are well-represented as jawans in the Mahar Regiment, the Bihar Regiment and the Sikh Light Infantry. In addition, there are some battalions of infantry regiments which are exclusively meant for SCs and STs, or have a fixed percentage in them. But the officers in these regiments are not necessarily members of SC or ST communities. The current chief of the army staff Gen. JJ Singh is a Sikh from the Mahar Regiment, and proudly considers himself a Mahar! The reason why there are so few officers from the two communities is clear: poor educational backgrounds, leading, first, to an inability to meet the minimum qualifications to enter the exams and, then, a failure to pass the examinations when able to enter them.
A close examination of the annual reports of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Tribes from 1950 to the present reveals a depressing absence of SC and ST men in all three branches of the armed forces: army, air force and the navy, as far as combat units are concerned. The absence from air force and navy is easy to explain: both are highly skilled organisations requiring technical education for entry. Since education of any kind â much less technical â is poor among the SCs and STs, they are therefore poorly represented in the two forces.
The situation is better in noncombat units. In the civilian cadres of the three branches of the forces, the SCs are represented well above their population percentages: 20.58 per cent in the army, 15.3 per cent in the navy, and 35 per cent in the air force. But the STs have done poorly in the armyâs civilian cadres.
Within the civilian cadres of the three forces, the percentage of the two groups is highest in the D-category requiring least education and lowest in the A-category requiring advanced education. A high degree of education is not required in the infantry units, where at least 25-30 per cent of the recruitment is based on ethnicity, caste or region, exemplified by the famous Dogra, Garhwal, Gorkha, Kumaon, Rajput and Sikh regiments more than half-a-century after entry into the army was theoretically opened to all qualified Indian citizens. SC and ST politicians from Babu Jagjivan Ram (defence minister in 1970s) to Ram Vilas Paswan, Union minister for steel & fertilisers, have demanded reservation for the two groups in the three branches of the services. The commissioners/chairmen of the National Commission on Scheduled Castes and Tribes have consistently supported the demand as evidenced from their reports since the 1950s.
Most recently, Dr Suraj Bhan, the current chairman of the SC Commission articulated the demand in May 2006. The Lok Sabhaâs Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Tribes, headed by Ratilal Kalidas Varma, presented a case for reservations with facts and figures to the Defence Ministry in August 2003. Paswan in particular demanded a Dalit regiment.
There is thus a consensus among Dalit politicians and the intelligentsia for reservations in the armed forces. But the Central government, whether headed by the BJP or the current UPA, categorically rejects the argument for reservation or for new regiments based on caste, ethnicity or region. Their argument is that âany attempt to introduce reservation for any class or community cannot but impair the fighting efficiency of the Armyâ.
When asked to abolish units based on ethnicity, caste or region, the Defence Ministryâs strange argument was that âclass composition of certain army units has been retained because of compulsions of combat effectiveness, operational performance and experienceâ. It is obvious that the defence ministry wants to maintain status quo even when contradictory arguments are used in the same breath. Moreover, the then Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee was either misinformed or intentionally misled the nation when he claimed in Rajya Sabha on February 22, 2006, that âall regiments named after communities and regions were formed before Independence. None was raised after 1950.â
Mukherjee was obviously unaware that Naga and Mizo regiments were raised in the early 1960s, a decade-and-a-half after 1947. The nation as a whole must develop consensus on whether or not it wants its institutions to mirror the countryâs population diversity. The armed forcesâ composition cannot be above public scrutiny in a democracy such as India. If we desire our armed forces to reflect our population composition, then measures must be taken to achieve that goal.
Children of aristocrats, former officers, and children of upper classes are disinterested in a career in the armed forces, given the poor incentives compared with the IT sector; they are unlikely to complain if reservations are introduced. If reservations are too radical, then state-sponsored intensive coaching for SCs, STs, Muslims, women and all other under-represented groups to prepare for UPSC exams is one corrective measure. Otherwise the underrepresented groups will not be scheduled for recruitment.
(The writer is a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.)